So yeah.

I believe it’s because we’ve been raised in a society that encourages such behavior. When you go on Facebook, you almost feel obligated to comment on someone’s new photograph of themselves, or to add a ‘Like’ icon to the status of a friend. Exactly 120 seconds ago, Selena Gomez posted some ditty about her new CD: over 100 comments, over 420 likes. Something’s wrong.

I have excuses.

I did, however, just get paid for my last video job…and I’ve decided to use that money to buy a new iPod touch. And it’s like the coolest thing ever. Ever. Dave, I think you need one. I’m able to check virtually anything I want. I even have the ability to post on WordPress from it; maybe my next post will be from it.

My favorite app? I don’t have one. Each one is so different. ‘Things’ keeps me organized, (and poor…$9.99, ouch. But totally worth it.) ‘Facebook’ keeps me in touch, ‘Urbanspoon’ keeps me full, ‘Bloons’ keeps me entertained, ‘MySpace’ keeps me looking like a normal teenager for the sake of appearances, and ‘Flashlight’ keeps me awake. It’s pretty much a bundle of love.

Digital love.

We’ll see.

What I did not enjoy was how some people did not listen when the director told the audience to “put away your art critic and allow yourself to experience the love and emotion of a student’s work of art.” These people include (well, mostly consist of) my parents. They do nothing but criticize kids on how they think things should have gone. They didn’t like the proximity of the audience to the actors. (It made them feel uncomfortable. Actors…mission accomplished.) They complained about the kids. They complained about the lighting. Every single person in the audience gave us a standing ovation…except my parents. My mother is so nitpicky that she complained about the damn font on the program. It really, really, really, really, really irked me. So as she was telling me all these things on the ride home, I would always reply with a noncommittal ‘mmm-hmm.’ Then she got mad because she didn’t think I wanted to talk to her, and she was right. Who wants to talk to someone that does nothing but criticize a student’s 6-week work of art? Not me.

But the show went well, and I don’t give a crap if my mom liked it or not.

I liked it.

And that’s what counts.

I think I did fairly well on the test. It was a series of 3 one-page prompts, which had to be completed in 2 hours using examples from the novel and some critical thinking. It wasn’t hard.

And now I’m really, incredibly, insanely bored. I finished one hour before it was due, so I’m sitting here, wishing that the school firewall wouldn’t block access to facebook. Sigh. There’s nothing to do. Tears.

And I’m a Sophomore.

All our teachers are giving us the usual “just because the year is almost over doesn’t mean we’re relaxing any work” speech. And this time they mean it. It’s one week before finals, and my French teacher has given us pop assessments every day for the past week. My history teacher assigned another big China project. Language Arts has a big book test on Thursday, having just finished back-to-back socratic seminars. Science…is science. She decided to start an all-new topic this week. (At least Ecology is really easy.) We’ve spent more time taking math tests than sleeping. And on top of it all, opening night for Les Miserables is tomorrow.

Hence the Senioritis.

I want out.

The school I attend is definitely not in the rich part of town. I had the option to go to school in places like that, but selected the ‘ghetto’ high school for its support of the I.B. program. I’ve been (mostly) happy with the results, academically, of the high school. But there is a lot more to school than Biology and French.

I’m active in my school’s choir department, and I’m proud to have one of the top-rated choir directors in the state. (St. Olaf graduate with degrees in music and performing arts…you don’t get that much better unless you add chocolate somewhere in there.) Unfortunately, a choir department can’t be supported by a good director alone. It needs support; emotionally, physically, and…financially. It is this problem that holds the music and arts program back at THS. The once award-winning choir (1991-1995) is now fairly mediocre. The teens involved love it, but there isn’t much to say for choir on paper. In an attempt to generate interest in the program, the department holds a yearly spring musical. This year’s peice is the challenging “Les Miserables,” in which I will be appearing this coming Wednesday and Thursday.

It’s not going to be the best show ever. It has only a paino accompinament (even though our school has a more than adequate orchestra and band…?) it’s being performed in the lunch room, and the vast majority of the show’s props are pantomimed. What can be said for Thornton High School’s “Les Miserables” is that it has heart. Every kid and faculty member involved pours their heart and soul into the production, which is what is keeping it alive. At other schools, their shows are big and flashy because it is very easy for those neighborhoods to get a fantastic quality production simply by signing a check. THS kids sign their souls away for two months.

Perhaps if the department director didn’t have to pay for every bit of the show out of pocket, there would be more than just heart and talent in the spring show. Maybe a bigger set. Maybe a fuller musical support. (Even though that’s possible without extra monetary assistance.) Maybe more realistic costumes. Maybe better michrophones. Maybe a better performance venue. If any one of these things were added, the production value of “Les Mis” would shoot straight up.

So, I ask you, to please give 120% of support to your school’s music and arts department. Make it a good “Les Mis” production…one with heart, and with a set.

Yesterday, my school’s Key Club held a showing of the documentary Invisible Children, an extremely moving piece about child soldiers in Uganda. Young boys, and girls, are being taken in the middle of the night from their families, desensetized by watching others being maimed, and then handed a gun and told to fight for a child army led by a man hell-bent on overthrowing the Ugandan government.

The movie really put in perspective how different the world I live in and the world these children suffer in are. But this raises the question…why are they so different? Can we just turn a blind eye to such atrocities? Can we let this continue? I’m thinking that the most powerful country on the planet Earth has the responsibility to make a change in Ugandan child soldiers’ situation.

The Invisible Children organization (www.InvisibleChildren.com) has, since 2003, been fighting against these wrongs in Eastern Africa. Recently, they held a global-scale effort (called The Rescue) to bring attention to the growing issue. Even Oprah Winfrey spent 7 minutes of her television program discussing the matter with Invisible Children activists. (7 minutes of Oprah time is like 5 hours of regular person time. Or like 3 months in dog years. But I digest…) Colorado’s Governor sent representatives when the event hit the Mile High City, pledging his support to the cause.

I ask you to help too. How can you do this? You can join in the next Invisible Children event (to be held in Washington DC this summer) buy Invisible Children merchandise, watch the full documentary on DVD or YouTube, get others ‘in the know,’ and there are even opportunities to travel to Uganda to help in the most hands-on way there is.

Please visit www.InvisibleChildren.com for more information.

By the way…Chloe says hi.